The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) is responsible for developing, refining, and maintaining a universal virus taxonomy. This includes classifying virus species and higher-level taxa based on genetic and biological properties, naming virus taxa, maintaining a database of approved taxonomy, and providing open-access information through its website. The ICTV website (http://ictv.global) offers access to the current taxonomy database in online and downloadable formats and maintains a complete history of virus taxa since 1971. The ICTV has also published the ICTV Report on Virus Taxonomy since 1971, which provides a comprehensive description of all virus taxa. The ninth report, published in 2012, is available as an open-access publication, while the 10th report is being published online and replaces the previous hard-copy edition with a continuously updated publication. The ICTV database stores virus taxonomy, taxon names, and associated metadata, including information on exemplar viruses for each named species. The database uses a relational schema built with Microsoft SQL Server and includes controlled vocabularies for specific fields. Each record in the taxonomy table stores data on a single taxon, including its name, numerical ID, parent taxon, release number and date, most recent taxonomic change, filename of the proposal establishing the taxon, and a pointer to its previous record if a change has occurred. The database allows for the reconstruction of a complete history of every taxon. The ICTV maintains a database that stores virus taxonomy, taxon names, and associated metadata. The database is accessible via the ICTV website, which provides a taxonomy browser and search functionality. The website also provides access to the ICTV Report, which describes every defined virus taxon. The ICTV has also published a compendium of virus taxonomy since 1971, providing a description of all virus taxa at the time of publication. The ninth report, published in 2012, is available as an open-access publication, while the 10th report is being published online and replaces the previous hard-copy edition with a continuously updated publication. The ICTV database contains the complete taxonomy for every release since 1971. Each release can be accessed via the taxonomy browser, and the history of each taxon is displayed. The database is updated with new taxonomic changes, and the ICTV has published a compendium of virus taxonomy since 1971, providing a description of all virus taxa at the time of publication. The ninth report, published in 2012, is available as an open-access publication, while the 10th report is being published online and replaces the previous hard-copy edition with a continuously updated publication. The ICTV is also working on streamlining its systems to handle the many thousands of new taxa that will need to be created due to the large number of new viruses discovered using metagenomic sequencingThe International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) is responsible for developing, refining, and maintaining a universal virus taxonomy. This includes classifying virus species and higher-level taxa based on genetic and biological properties, naming virus taxa, maintaining a database of approved taxonomy, and providing open-access information through its website. The ICTV website (http://ictv.global) offers access to the current taxonomy database in online and downloadable formats and maintains a complete history of virus taxa since 1971. The ICTV has also published the ICTV Report on Virus Taxonomy since 1971, which provides a comprehensive description of all virus taxa. The ninth report, published in 2012, is available as an open-access publication, while the 10th report is being published online and replaces the previous hard-copy edition with a continuously updated publication. The ICTV database stores virus taxonomy, taxon names, and associated metadata, including information on exemplar viruses for each named species. The database uses a relational schema built with Microsoft SQL Server and includes controlled vocabularies for specific fields. Each record in the taxonomy table stores data on a single taxon, including its name, numerical ID, parent taxon, release number and date, most recent taxonomic change, filename of the proposal establishing the taxon, and a pointer to its previous record if a change has occurred. The database allows for the reconstruction of a complete history of every taxon. The ICTV maintains a database that stores virus taxonomy, taxon names, and associated metadata. The database is accessible via the ICTV website, which provides a taxonomy browser and search functionality. The website also provides access to the ICTV Report, which describes every defined virus taxon. The ICTV has also published a compendium of virus taxonomy since 1971, providing a description of all virus taxa at the time of publication. The ninth report, published in 2012, is available as an open-access publication, while the 10th report is being published online and replaces the previous hard-copy edition with a continuously updated publication. The ICTV database contains the complete taxonomy for every release since 1971. Each release can be accessed via the taxonomy browser, and the history of each taxon is displayed. The database is updated with new taxonomic changes, and the ICTV has published a compendium of virus taxonomy since 1971, providing a description of all virus taxa at the time of publication. The ninth report, published in 2012, is available as an open-access publication, while the 10th report is being published online and replaces the previous hard-copy edition with a continuously updated publication. The ICTV is also working on streamlining its systems to handle the many thousands of new taxa that will need to be created due to the large number of new viruses discovered using metagenomic sequencing